A leading haulage group has warned the “national embarrassment” of long lorry queues must not be repeated when Britain leaves the EU.

Kent's roads were clogged with HGVs after France closed its border for two days over Christmas due to concerns over a new Covid variant.

Logistics UK policy manager Chris Yarsely speaks about the urgent need for a review

Business group Logistics UK has now written to the government, calling for a review of traffic management and driver welfare arrangements, to avoid a repeat on January 1.

Elizabeth de Jong, policy director at Logistics UK, said: “That drivers should have to spend two days at the side of the road, without adequate toilet facilities or the immediate provision of hot food, was a national embarrassment, and the need to rely on the generosity of the charities, businesses and local residents and the support of the Armed Forces must not be repeated.

“In the first few months of the year, the UK relies on fresh food supplies from across the Channel to keep our supermarkets stocked.

“But this lack of concern for driver welfare could impact on the willingness of EU hauliers to send their drivers to this country, and we want to protect the integrity of the supply chain.”

Residents living near to Operation Brock sites – namely Manston Airport and the M20 – came out in force to support truckers stranded in Kent.

In Mersham, supplies were lowered from a bridge by villagers and Ashford residents donated showers at a nearby hotel.

Meanwhile the Ahmadiyya Muslim community in Gillingham provided more than 2,000 food and drink items to those marooned in the Thanet airport.

Speaking to KentOnline, Logistics UK policy manager Chris Yarsley hoped any issues turned up by last week’s border closure will be fixed to make the UK more attractive to foreign haulage firms.

He said: “A lot needs to be reviewed immediately and that’s our call to the government and the Kent Resilience Forum – to put new structures in place so that if there is disturbance in January, the need to feed drivers, and provide toilets and suitable parking spaces, is met instantly and not over the course of a couple of days.

“The procedures in place (for Brexit) have come quite late from the UK government so our members – operators and logistics firms – have never actually been able to use them in the real world environment.

“So from January they will be testing the new procedures in this live environment, and we do anticipate there could be some bumps in the road.

“We need to make a clear statement that we are prepared for this problem and we are going to treat you much better than what happened in the last week at Dover.”

Mr Yarsely also said he hoped any issues arising from the post-Brexit procedures could be ironed out within the first couple of week after the transition date.

If you are an HGV driver or a haulage firm, Logistics UK’s guidance on Brexit can be found here.

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